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The chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee that handles trade policy says he’s concerned about the U.S. becoming embroiled in tit-for-tat tariff escalations that could lead to ag producers facing new duties. 

Lawmakers continue what’s described as “intense negotiations” over what’s going to be included with a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill. It’s not clear yet that GOP leaders will agree to add a package of market relief for farmers.

Federal and state court judges have blocked the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons after finding the scale of the divestiture plan, which involves selling about 580 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers, cannot make up for the loss of competition that would result from the merger.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the Monarch butterfly as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, citing the loss of habitat to development, logging and use of herbicides.

Seventy-seven Nobel laureates in medicine, economics, physics and chemistry are urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. 

There’s been a lot of speculation about the kind of leader Brooke Rollins would be as ag secretary, so we talked with a couple of men who know her well. One is Drew DeBerry, a government affairs consultant at Axis Strategies, who first met Rollins when she worked for then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

President-elect Donald Trump is bringing China hawk Peter Navarro back to the White House as a top trade adviser, adding to a trade team that features a mix of Wall Street veterans and protectionist policy specialists. In other words, the trade team for Trump’s second term looks a lot like the first. 

A federal judge in Texas has blocked the federal government from requiring small businesses, including farms, to start filing reports disclosing their ownership. The disclosure requirement, which the judge described as “quasi-Orwellian,” is intended to combat money laundering and other financial crimes.

Democrats on the House Ag Committee are starting to line up behind the candidates seeking to be the panel’s ranking member. Reps. Angie Craig, D-Minn., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., are challenging Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., for the minority’s top spot.

A federal judge has vacated USDA’s 2020 rule exempting genetically engineered plants from regulation, which likely will delay USDA approval of crops engineered with traits to resist herbicides.